No Rhode Island Libertarian Party nominee has been on the ballot in a midterm year for statewide office in the party’s history. However, this year, the party will attempt to place its nominee Tony Jones on the ballot for Lieutenant Governor.
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On June 18, PublicPolicyPolling released a Nebraska gubernatorial poll. The results: Republican Pete Ricketts 42%, Democrat Chuck Hassebrook 38%, Libertarian Mark Elworth 8%, undecided 13%. See here for more details.
Mark Elworth is the first Libertarian Party gubernatorial candidate in Nebraska history. His chief campaign issue is marijuana law reform. Thanks to Michael for the link.
The Republican Party of Montana meets June 21-22 and will consider a resolution in favor of a closed primary for the party. See this story. Thanks to Mike Fellows for the link.
On June 17, Public Policy Polling released a U.S. Senate poll for North Carolina. The results: Democratic incumbent Kay Hagan 39%, Republican Thom Tillis 34%, Libertarian Sean Haugh 11%, undecided 16%. See here for more details. A supplemental question asks about support for the major party candidates if the Libertarian were not in the race, and it shows that Haugh’s showing is not altering the outcome.
California AB 2351, the bill to ease the definition of “political party”, passed the Assembly unanimously last month. It is set for a hearing in the Senate Elections Committee on June 17. Because no group or individual has communicated any opposition to this bill, and because no legislator has expressed opposition, the bill is on the Consent Calendar. That means it passes the Committee automatically.
The bill changes the number of registrations for a group to be a “political party” from 1% of the last gubernatorial vote, to .33% of the number of registered voters. That is a decline from approximately 104,000 registrations, to 59,000 registrations. The bill also changes the alternate vote test, from a group that got 2% of the vote for any statewide race in the previous midterm general election, to 2% of the vote in the previous midterm primary election.
Groups must meet either the registration test, or the 2% vote test; there is no need for a group to meet both tests. Assuming this bill is signed into law soon, North Carolina, not California, will require support from the greatest number of voters for a group to be a qualified party.